I listed a piece of audio gear on eBay last night and this morning I received noticed that it sold (Buy It Now) and full payment had been made to my Paypal account. I was at work and emailed the buyer that I would pack it up tonight and ship tomorrow. He replied that was fine.

So tonight, I decided to run the gear through its paces one more time and record it so I could prove everything was working...just in case. I had tested it last week before listing just for my own peace of mind and it was working fine. Well, of course now it's working less than fine. It powers up, plays a little bit, then stops. Tried it again with the same result.

I just emailed the buyer and I'm waiting to hear back as to whether he'd still want it as "parts/not working" at a much reduced price or if he'd prefer a full refund and we just forget it altogether. If he doesn't want it, I will likely relist it as "parts/not working" and see what happens.

Any thoughts as to how eBay will interpret this snafu? As long as the buyer and I resolve to his satisfaction, do they even care? Do I have anything to worry about as to my 100% positive feedback?

eBay really doesn't care that much. As long as you resolve it with the Buyer they will not get involved. Just remember eBay always favors the Buyer. Since he won the bid he can leave whatever Feedback he wants. You as the Seller cannot leave negative feedback, only positive.

You've done all that you can do. Good luck.

I think this is better than sending the defective item and getting a nasty negative feedback.

If I were the buyer, I'd want the seller to do exactly what you did. You have no control over what the buyer leaves as feedback, but you've done right by him/her and a reasonable buyer would realize that. You've been very reasonable, and there's not much for eBay to weigh in on here.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm still waiting to hear back from the buyer.

Since you explained yourself and offered the item at reasonable discount for the revised condition, hopefully the buyer will be understanding. I can't remember if there's a mutual cancellation option in eBay anymore (which I think would prevent negative feedback).

I've had many sellers just outright cancel a purchase because they were presumably not happy with the final price. They all get a negative from me in that scenario.

I just heard back. He's very understanding and still wants it for parts. I told him I'd refund $30, but when I go to Paypal I don't see an option for a partial refund. Any idea how to do that?

Never mind. I found it. I had to select Refund before being given the option of how much to refund. We're good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2017 09:21AM by wurm.